The Church Around The World-or "Autocephalous" Isn't A Type Of Milk

No, you probably won't be asked to pick up a gallon of autocephalous milk, but you may be able to be a part of an autocephalous Church. It helps me to see where the Church physically exists, how it is organized and how all the 14 equal, independent and self-governing Churches work in communion and unity with one another across the earth. Communion and unity do not mean an absence of human conflict born of flesh or selfish endeavor. I like what my Priest, Father Stephen Rogers told me when I first met with him. As we sat in his office in a separate building, he pointed in the direction of the Temple and said, "Remember Nathan, there are people over there." That has been true of the Church from day one. It amazes me the narrowness of some who always use the examples of the human element of the faith as fodder to discredit the relevance of the historic governance in the body of Christ. The Orthodox church is well aware of issues facing it and speak to these issues often. For instance there is not yet a North American Autocephalous Church. The Orthodox Church in this hemisphere is represented by several Churches in the East, such as the Greek, the Russian, the Antiochian. All are still the same Orthodox Church but governed by individual entities which carry with them their own cultural flavors. I am delighted however, when I visit a local Orthodox Church with cultural elements different from mine, that I feel at home because the shape, ethos, and worship experience is familiar. As you look at the graph here realize that the Patriarch of each of these Churches follow a continuous succession of Partriarchs extending back to the conception of the Church. The Orthodox Church is the original Church and has preserved the faith of the Apostles. It is unchanging and in this way has prevented in every century and culture the propensity to "change with the times". While "change" may be a good word to some religious cultures, "change" is equal to heresy in the Orthodox faith. While other religious cultures are given to the newest movements or doctrines, you can be assured that when you enter the Orthodox faith, you are receiving the original doctrines of the faith of our fathers without mixture.